


gold rush

by thesurielships



Series: evermore [3]
Category: Blood and Ash Series - Jennifer L. Armentrout
Genre: F/M, High School AU, inspired by gold rush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:34:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28161726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesurielships/pseuds/thesurielships
Summary: But I don't like a gold rush, gold rushI don't like anticipating my face in a red flushI don't like that anyone would die to feel your touchEverybody wants youEverybody wonders what it would be like to love youWalk past, quick brushI don't like slow motion double vision in rose blushI don't like that falling feels like flying 'til the bone crushEverybody wants youBut I don't like a gold rush
Relationships: Poppy Balfour/Casteel Da'Neer
Series: evermore [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2058630
Kudos: 12





	gold rush

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr prompt: “This picture of me letting the snowflakes hit my face with my eyes closed in the forest is in the school newspaper as winner for a picture competition and you apparently took the picture, and I want an explanation… wow you have very pretty eyes.”

Poppy cannot comprehend what she’s looking at.

“What am I doing there?” she asks Kieran, her fellow photography nerd and best friend.

“You’re in the competition,” comes his dry reply.

“As a photographer!”

He shrugs, but his lips are twitching.

“You’re _laughing_?”

She’s not sure whether it’s her question or her outrage that finally breaks his resolve. Kieran laughs so hard he doubles over, slapping his knee.

Her eyes narrow. Sure, ending up as the unintentional model of the winner of a photography competition she participated in as a photographer is funny. However, she feels like she’s missing the real joke.

She studies the picture again. It’s in the Nyktos woods in Carsodonia, where they went for the previous year’s school trip. She’s standing amongst the pine trees, smiling at the sky as snow falls on her face. She can still remember that moment vividly. For someone born and raised in a coastal town where it’s practically summer all year round, snow is a mythical thing.

She peruses the newspaper, looking for the name of the winner.

The submitter is anonymous.

The hair at the back of her neck rises. “Kieran?”

Her traitorous friend is smiling like a fiend. “Penellaphe?”

“It’s him, isn’t it?”

She doesn’t wait for him to answer before she turns on her heel and stomps her way to the other side of school. Hell hath no fury like a woman photographed without permission, and she’s going to bring it down on the offender.

Casteel Da’neer is exactly where she expects to find him after school. He’s dunking on the basketball field, alone. He always stays behind even when his club leaves.

And so does his fanclub.

Poppy scowls at the girls fawning over him and yelling out flirtatious comments as he wipes his face with his shirt, exposing his abs.

He notices her and she can see his golden eyes gleaming across the distance.

She hates the rush of adrenaline as his gaze trails along her body, leaving scorching heat in its wake.

She hates the red flush on her face when he smiles at her, so wide both dimples appear.

She hates how she’s huffing and panting when she stops in front of him, yet he is completely unruffled after playing basketball for hours.

“I assume you’ve seen the winner.”

“Yes,” she grits through her teeth.

“Always such a sore loser, Poppy,” he purrs her nickname and her anger flares.

“How dare you submit a picture of me!”

He tilts his head, his eyes twinkling in the afternoon sun, and for one short second, she forgets what she’s so mad about. “It fits the prompt.”

“How is that what winter means to you?”

He steps closer and she straightens her spine.

“I grew up in Skotos.”

“I’m aware.”

He cracks a smile, and that damn dimple of his makes an appearance. “Winter is the most boring thing to me.”

“That sounds like your problem,” she snaps.

He takes another step, grinning at her, and she has to tip her head back to meet his eyes.

“Snow is just a wet pain in my ass, most days. But the way you smile at it in wonder, the way your eyes light up and you surrender to the joy of discovering something new… It’s beautiful, Poppy.”

She hates how the compliment turns her knees molten.

She hates how her heart stumbles when he reaches out and twirls a red strand around his finger. “That day was the first time winter meant anything positive to me.”

His eyes drop to her lips and she shivers at the memory he’s referencing.

“You’re a terrible flirt.”

“And a great kisser,” he whispers before his lips meet hers.

It’s sweet and slow at first, but quickly escalates when her hands slide up his chest and her fingers tug his hair. He groans deep in his throat and the sound unleashes her.

She bites his lower lip and explores his mouth with wild abandon. Casteel lets her take the lead, his fingers tightening on her waist. This new dynamic is a stark contrast to their first kiss in the snowy Carsodonian woods. Then, his kiss was determined but gentle, and she was too dazed to do anything but receive his affections.

She hates how each kiss with him is better than the last. 

She hates how falling feels like flying until the bone crush, and with every kiss the fall looms ever closer.

And she hates how she doesn’t care.

When they part, he's panting, his face flushed and his hair askew.

And Poppy is willing to risk every bone in her body if she gets to see him like this one more time.

"I love you."

"I know."

She punches his stomach and he roars a laugh.

"Ice cream?" he asks as he wraps an arm around her shoulders and picks up his backpack with the other.

"You always end up eating mine," she remarks, snaking her arm around his waist.

"You always get my favorite," he pouts, and she loves how adorable it is.

"Your problem, babe."

He kisses the top of her head, chuckling. "That you are."


End file.
